Sacrifice isn’t new

Pulaski County voters decide November 7 if we will fund construction of a new middle school. As most realize, the condition of our current two middle schools is unacceptable. To expand and renovate Dublin Middle School would cost 87 percent of the cost of a new school. If children are, indeed, our most precious resource, and I believe they are, we owe them a learning environment that is safe, functional and conducive to learning.

In the South, we look often to the past. America has long realized our continued freedom depends on an educated citizenry. As we moved west, the land in a town was sold in sections, and the proceeds from one section funded a school. Even Jefferson’s voice reminds us that only voters who can read and write and think can maintain a democratic government. More recently, during the Great Depression federal tax dollars – with a 10-30 percent contribution required of state/local governments – funded construction of a new Pulaski High School. I imagine such sacrifice cut deeply during the Depression, but the need was there and they did it.

I am retired. My husband and I have no children or grandchildren currently in our schools, but I deeply believe I am obligated to pay to educate our next generation of citizens. It is the only way democracy survives. Build the school, and raise my taxes to do it. I received a free public education and have enjoyed a life with countless opportunities because of it. The next generation – and the one after that – certainly deserve the same.